Onward to 2011!

Greetings!

This week, there hasn't been much stitching, instead I spent my time dyeing (5-7 separate sessions) my cut of linen for BBD Mystery. My, the "Linen Drama" we've had on this one!



My desk at the moment. I decided that I liked some of this stiff linen that I ordered by mistake a year ago. Especially once it's been given the good 'ol Tan Rit Treatment. So, I ordered more (tried to order more). It's just some stiff wichelt stuff. Not even an overdye. How hard can it be? Let me just say that this is the 3rd cut I've ordered. And, now finally, though it was just slightly different, I figured I'd be okay with it.



But I'm not.

This black stitched heart shows some from the first lot which I was trying to replicate. It's got a bit of delicious green undertone which does wonders for the fibers in this chart.



This, the product of many dyeings, does not. :( And the colors show markedly drabber on it.

This will need a big ponder. Is it too late for a light something with green bath? Khaki has green, right? Hmmn.

So, to keep my hands busy, I started making these:



They were all around blogland a couple of weeks ago, I think I saw them first at Hazel's. I wonder if I'll make a whole bunch to garland around my big tree, or less with the idea of them being for the small ornament/feather tree I'm starting to see in my mind's eye. ;)



They are really neat! (And, they don't "need" any green so they look great on the linen I dyed, lol!)

I want to get a better hook for them, though; I wonder if Clover makes one in the size of the silver hook shown. The smallest clover hook I have is a 2.5 mm, and it just a bit too big for the thread I'm using.





The other thing I've been doing to chill out is gone back to playing "Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box" for DS. (If you check out the link, I picked it for the large and clear images of its image gallery. Didn't even read the content.)

Do you like mysteries? Charming illustrations with European (France, perhaps?) sensibilities worked in a warm palette that evokes candlelight? Investigating while riding a luxury train? Making tea? Cats?

Then, you should try this game. It's the second in a series of 3 (well, that have been localized for the west.), and I buy mine from Amazon 'cause it saves me over $2 on the tax at my local rate. That's a skein of cotton overdye, you know!

I'd better jet--I've got a train to catch! ;)
--Berit

Bonus:

• Snowstorm sank our plans to go see the billboard Marc made for ERA that's running in Times Square this month. I wonder if we'll be able to go before the new year when it's taken down. Of course it is just a 10 second animated ad, and I could see it on my computer...but I wanted to make the pilgrimage and see it.

• I wound up sustaining some emotional damage over the holidays, and I learned a couple of things as a result. Most importantly, I need to learn how to be direct in all things, yet not unkind, in my dealings with others. To put it the other way, the opposite of "passive-aggressive". This is a skill a person I know lacks, and I was hurt as a result. Incidentally, it's not really something that I can do so well either, so this is an illustration of how I can hurt others.

Being in the right on a situation is not enough; we must go further and handle it the right way. I'm going to be trying to make sure that I'm not "being nice" (thinking I'm such a saint to put up with someone who is trespassing against me) when I'm actually mad and using body language and other communication that is in conflict with what I am saying or what I really mean.

My Second Thought on this is as follows: It's possible to make an argument that we're ALL "crazy" sometimes, but wouldn't it be great if we could be known for using our craziness to bless others? I think it'd be great if the next time someone said, "Oh, Berit's just crazy like that sometimes." to shrug off my behavior they were speaking in reference to an unusually positive way I'd affected someone else. :)

• After a bit of a bump in the road, stitching continues on my first freebie! I DO hope some of you out there will be able to enjoy stitching this when I finish, but even if not I'm going to have Something Good for my autumn display next year. ;)

• 2011= The Chinese Year of the Rabbit~ Yay!

• Regarding personal stitching goals, I don't particularly have any new ones. I want to re-dedicate myself to what I've already been working towards: clearing the parts of my stash that I don't see myself using soon, getting BBD Mystery underway, and releasing that freebie!

• I've also decided to lighten my burden of guilt by marking all my unread items in Google reader as read at the new year. I got behind during my studying, and as I can't catch up, I'll go forward! :D :D :D